lazy weekends

I have been doing an online blogging course called 'blog with Pip' with Pip Lincoln of Meet me at mikes fame. It has been so awesome and I finally feel like I am getting my blogging mojo back. Not to mention all the awesome people I have (virtually) met during the course. (Hello!)

This week we had a little assignment which was to take 5 photos of our weekend. Our weekend was pretty lazy as I have been getting over a horrid virus that left me in bed for 4 days straight last week. Ugh! I have never been so sick in my life!

It did, however, give me a bit of time to catch up on lots of bloggity blogs (as my husband always calls them). Here are a few great posts I read this week:

+ 12 eco-friendly gift ideas -just in time for Christmas!

+ These beetroot, quinoa and chocolate muffins look amazing!

+ Check out Anna's awesome Brooklyn abode!

+ Excellent tips for getting a better nights sleep, and

+ A fabulous Christmas giveaway (if you are good at writing poetry!)

Would you like to share a link to something great you read this week?

P.s Look at the roses in our courtyard!

stills: a snapshot of my week

I have decided to play along with Em over at The Beetle Shack in her weekly 'stills' collection.
(I only just discovered her gorgeous blog and very glad I did!)

I take so many photos each week as I am still trying to master my DSLR camera, although I am very proud to say that since I attended 'The Nursery' with Tim Coulson a few months ago (more on that another day) I take all my photos on manual (as opposed to just leaving the camera on automatic) which is much more complicated than just switching a button over!

So here are a collection of photos from this week..

1. The rug in front of the couch is surrounded by toys.. most days you can't actually see the rug under all the toys and puzzles! But it's a happy mess.

2. Our dining table is right in the middle of the house. It's where we eat, play, draw and work. It's where I put my bag down when I walk in the door. It's covered in coloured pencil and splatters of last nights spaghetti sauce. It always has a big bowl of fruit in the middle and flowers in a vase.. these ones are picked from our garden!

3. This teapot was given to Tom and I as a wedding present. It says "for life" on the top which I think is nice. Every single morning this teapot gets filled with 2 spoons of loose leaf english breakfast tea and boiling water and two cups of tea get poured a few minutes later. If I make myself a cup and forget about Tom he will say "Are you making divorce tea?" because apparently making tea for yourself and not your husband is behaving like you want a divorce.

4. Poor Henry. I am constantly saying to Sophie "Don't pick him up, please", "Just let him walk on his own", "Be gentle", "He just wants to do this himself.. just let him be!"
Oh it's tough having an adoring big sister!

5. Beetroot bolognese.. It's a winner!

6. When he entertains himself I should take the opportunity to get things done (that pile of dishes, a load of washing) but most of the time I just sit back and watch him adoringly. Sigh.

7. Charlie. The weirdest cat who ever did live.

Taking stock

Making: little pants for Henry
Cooking: beetroot bolognese
Drinking: tea (of course!)
Reading: the manual for my new sewing machine
Wanting: a fairy-godmother that comes and cleans the house while I sleep
Looking: at the warm banana bread in front of me
Playing: April Maze
Wasting: too much time on Pinterest
Fixing: the hem on my husband's pants
Deciding: if I should make another pot of tea
Wishing: I had a craft room
Enjoying: the perfect spring weather
Waiting: for the mailman to come
Liking: not having to get up and do the school run every morning
Wondering: if I could ever give up tea?
Loving: the latest issue of Kinfolk
Pondering: how life tuns out
Considering: a weekend away with the girls.. no husbands and no kids
Watching: Blue Jasmine -it was so good!
Hoping: to get my hands on Beci Oprin's new book 'home'
Marvelling: at the little tree in the garden that came back from the dead
Needing: more time to craft
Smelling: the eucalyptus spray I clean the dining table with
Wearing: Jeans and a stripy t-shirt as usual
Following: Henry around all over the place
Noticing: How the days are getting longer
Knowing: that I should go to bed earlier
Thinking: that I should probably do some exercise one day soon
Buying: fabric (of course!)
Getting: not a lot done these days, but that's okay
Admiring: people who manage to get a lot done
Bookmarking: blogs for future reading
Opening: the box of fruit that just arrived on my doorstep
Giggling: at myself for bumping into a pole today and then saying "oh I'm so sorry" before I turned to realise I was talking to a pole. It was also in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Oh dear.
Feeling: exhausted but content

I am playing along with Pip's 'taking stock'. (I couldn't resist playing along as I love writing lists and filing in forms.. anyone else funny like that?)
Feel free to play along if you like..

(Photo of Henry and I by Anneli Hansen photography.. lots more photos from her soon!)

11 months

Henry is 11 months old today! How time flies! Here are a few photos from the last few weeks.
(I'm hoping to be back here a little more often now that life is slowly resembling some kind of normal.)

Lost in a pile of laundry

This photo was taken on Sophie's first day of school way back in February and it's a good indication of how things are in my life that I'm only just posting it now.. In July!

I have so much to tell you all that I don't even know where to start! Henry is 10 months old now. I have no idea how that happened so quickly! Life is good but very busy. Days are spend just barely keeping on top of the cooking, cleaning and laundry that I'm left wondering how on earth anyone with kids manages to do anything else. Even after the kids are in bed I do the dishes, fold the washing, tidy up a bit and collapse into bed with my 'to-do' list growing ever longer by the day.

Henry is doing so well. He is such a happy, sweet boy. My only complaint is that (just like Sophie) he is a terrible sleeper. At 10 months old he is still waking up 4-5 times a night! I can count on one hand the number of times I have slept through the night in the last year.. To say I'm exhausted is an understatement!

I promise I'll post some photos soon x

M.I.A

When you start getting messages from people you don't know asking if you are okay it's probably time to write a post.

Life has just been so busy and I find myself wondering how anyone with kids (especially a baby) finds the time to blog at all.

I barely have time to sit down at all these days.. managing to shower and make dinner is cause for celebration at the moment and once the kids are in bed I am lucky if I can even find the energy to brush my teeth!

I have considered giving up on blogging altogether.. there are so many people who are so much better at it than me and I sometimes wonder if it's a waste of my time.. Maybe I would be better off using my time to sit down with a cup of tea and a good book at the end of the day rather than staring at the computer.
(Although I have to admit that this is the first time I have used the computer in weeks, months even!)

Henry is doing so well.. he is just such a sweet little boy but has currently decided that sleeping is not his thing. Yeah, that sucks. Sophie is just loving being a full time school girl and we are slowly getting into the whole school routine.

I'll leave you with a picture of those two little possums that I took today.

I can't believe I'm still awake!

8 Weeks

I can't believe that little Henry is 8 weeks old already! He is such a wonderful little baby.. so happy and sleeping so well at night. He is sleeping about 8 hours straight most nights, which is almost unbelievable to me as Sophie was still waking up two or three times a night when she was 9 months old!

Sophie is starting to settle down a bit. She is still a bit of a terror at the moment but with Henry sleeping so well I feel that I am able to cope with her behaviour a bit more (everything is so much harder when you are sleep deprived!)

We are still spending most of our days at home and trying not to venture out too far. Walking Sophie to school or visiting a friend who lives nearby is as far as I go most days. I wish that I could say that I have been busy making delicious things in the kitchen and pottering around in the garden, but the reality is that trying to have a shower, organise something for dinner and keep the house from looking like a complete mess takes up majority of my day.

(Does anyone else feel like they spend their entire life cleaning up? Sometimes I only just finish the dishes from lunch and it's time to start making dinner! Someone told me the other day that cleaning a house with kids is like trying to brush your teeth with a mouth full of Oreos! Haha.. it's so true!)

I have a new found respect for my friends that have two or more kids -it is hard, but at the same time I would not change it for the world!

6 weeks

Henry is 6 weeks old.
It feels like he has been here forever. My days of bedrest feel like a lifetime ago but at the same time the last 6 weeks have flown by.

I am not going to lie, the last months has been a little difficult at times. Not because I am finding it hard having a newborn and dealing with sleepless nights (Henry is an absolute sweetheart!), but because Sophie has turned into an absolute rat-bag!

She has become the most difficult and disobedient little thing I have ever seen! I completely understand that it is a normal reaction to having a new sibling and that it must be extra hard for a little girl who has had her parents all to herself for almost 5 years (not to mention the fact that we moved house and changed her school just 2 weeks before Henry was born so there has been alot of big changes for the poor girl).

I am embarrassed to admit that instead of being patient and understanding towards her, I have turned into one of those mums that just bark orders at their kid and I have never yelled at her so much in my whole life! I have lost my cool more times than I would like to admit. I know that what she needs is more time alone with me and a little bit of understanding, but I have found it hard to remember that when she is throwing books at my head while I am trying to feed Henry. (Not joking).

All I can say is thank god the school holidays are over!

Of course it's not all 'nightmare-child' and 'cranky-pants mum' around here.. There are plenty of lovely moments and Sophie is getting better and better everyday (adjusting to life with a little brother I guess)..
She does adore Henry and often almost suffocates him with cuddles!

Here is a photo to prove it..

Sophie and Henry!

Henry is 18 days old now.
I still can't actually believe that he is finally here!

We are doing well.. just trying to take it as easy as possible and spending our days at home pottering around. I'm quite sleep deprived and surviving on copious cups of tea during the day, but that's to be expected with a 2 week old!
Sophie has started her new school which is just down the street from our new house and I'm still mastering the art of getting out the door with two little ones. She has been 45 minutes late for school every day this week, but practice makes perfect I guess!

We still have no internet at the new house which is why I have not been posting as often as usual (well, that and the fact that I am too busy staring at Henry instead of the computer screen!) but hopefully I'll be able to post 1000 pictures of him shortly..

Approaching life..

I am really looking forward to having a blog that is actually full of delicious homemade food, pictures of all the delicious veggies we grow in the garden and post after post of all the pretty things I make on my sewing machine.

I am not sure if it because I am feeling so incredibly lucky at the moment or if it was the 5 months of full bed rest that did it, but for some reason I am feeling so motivated to approach life with absolute energy and passion at the moment.

I keep imagining life in our new house, with our new gorgeous baby and me.. unlike I have ever been before.. A new version of 'me' that is organised and motivated and has a new passion for life and motherhood and creating a wonderful loving home. Someone who shops at the local farmers markets and cooks delicious homemade meals from scratch, spends her time gardening and sewing and being absorbed in every moment with her kids. Someone who has the laundry sorted and the house clean and has time to bake muffins before playgroup in the morning. I imagine dancing around the house at 5pm with my kids laughing and happy and having fun because I will have prepared dinner at 10am instead of thinking about what to make at 6.45pm. I will be a better mother, a better wife and a better friend.

But then reality sets in..

I will be tired. Really tired. I will have a newborn. I will have a 4 year old who has to deal with moving house, changing schools and getting a new sibling all in the same month. I will have a husband that now takes an hour to get home from work instead of 10 minutes. I will be really out of shape after spending majority of the last 9 months in bed and I will probably spend most of the day in my pyjamas..

But you know what? I am okay with that. I'm more than okay with that..

I am going to spend every second just savouring that newborn goodness while eating take away in a house that resembles a junk yard. I am going to sit there with a smile on my face and hope that the motivation to make my life look like a pinterest board is still there in 6 months time!

Yeah!

These are some of my favourite photos from Instagram.. You can follow me on Instagram if you like (@grow_cook_sew) as I may be a bit sporadic in posting over the next few weeks (You know.. moving house and having a baby and all!)

Life is happening

I have struggled to find the time or energy to write a post lately. My life is completely preoccupied with the imminent arrival of our little boy and moving into our new home which are due to happen within a week of each other! I have been so busy trying to get organised but still trying to rest as much as possible.

I also feel like I have nothing to write at the moment because all I can tell you is how happy I am, and I fear I might start to get awfully boring if I keep going on and on about how things are finally falling into place for us (but seriously.. being weeks away from holding the baby that we have been longing for for years and buying our first home just seems unbelievable to me! I can't believe that the things we have spent soo long working towards are almost here.. it's so incredibly exciting).

On that note, I'll leave you with a picture of the cutest little French baby shoes..

x

Our new home!

Less than a week after this house turned out to be a dud, another beautiful house popped up just around the corner. We went to inspect it on Monday night with Tom's dad, mum and step-dad. We put an offer in on Tuesday and yesterday found out that the owners had accepted our offer!!

I can't believe it.. This is the first house we have ever bought and the first time we had ever put an offer in. Lots of our friends had warned us that finding the right home takes months or even years of putting in offers and being knocked back.. So we were so incredibly happy (and a little in shock) to find out that our offer had been accepted and the house is (almost) ours!

I've been told that I can't celebrate just yet.. Our offer has been accepted and we have put a deposit down but until the conditions of the offer have been met and settlement occurs I can't technically call it ours, but I think that we can still pop open a little champagne (or orange juice in my case!)

I can't even begin to tell you how much of a dream come true this house is.. I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would ever live in a house like this, let alone own it! I was lying in bed last night looking through the pictures of our new place (I'll post some more photos soon) and as I was lying there I could feel our little baby boy kicking in my tummy..

For the first time in a very, very long time I finally feel like life is going our way.. things are falling into place and all the stress and heartbreak of the last few years is finally starting to fade.

12 months ago we were living out of a suitcase at Tom's parents place, had just moved to a city where I didn't know a single person, were still in shock over the death of our baby girl, didn't have a cent to our names (in fact, we were in debt) and the only thing that I could think about was why I was not falling pregnant again and how I desperately longed for a little baby..

To be sitting (well, lying) here now, 28 weeks pregnant, which is over the risky stage and so close to having a healthy little baby in my arms and having just had our offer accepted on our dream house is an incredible feeling. I can't even begin to tell you how good it feels.

We may still be living with Tom's parents but it has allowed us to save up for this house and have help around while I have been on bed rest.. and it will all be so worth it.. In just a few months time we will be sitting in our new home with our darling little baby boy safely in my arms and our gorgeous little girl running around in a garden that is bigger than most of the apartments we have ever lived in!!

We are so, so close..

On getting dressed.. Or not.

Ever since Sophie was old enough to talk (and maybe even before then) she has had very strong opinions about how she is going to dress.

The problem is that every morning has become an absolute struggle.. multiple outfit changes, tantrums, the entire contents of her wardrobe emptied across her bedroom floor and sometimes even after an hour of trying to get her dressed we are still no closer to getting her out the door.

While I am happy than my little girl has a strong sense of what she likes and does not like, I have no idea where this behaviour originated from.. I like nice clothes as much as the rest of us, but I usually throw on the first clean thing I find (which is usually jeans, a stripy top and my converse) and don't give it a second thought. I have no idea how she became so obsessed with clothes and how she looks and it does worry me a little.

A few nights ago she had a tantrum because her "pyjamas looked silly". I explained to her that it did not matter what her pyjamas looked like as she would be tucked up in her bed all night and the most important thing is that they are warm and cosy.. no-one cares what your pyjamas look like! But she was not convinced and that is what worries me.. how did this little girl learn to place so much value on how she looks? Is this something she will grow out of or is it the beginning of lifelong belief that our physical looks define our worth as a person (my gosh I hope not!)

I should add here that while we often tell Sophie that she looks lovely or how gorgeous she is (if you have a little girl it's impossible not too),  but we have always been very careful not to emphasise it too much and we are always trying to encourage self-worth based on non-physical attributes, such as "we were very proud of how well you played with your friends today at the park, Well done!" or "I really love this painting you did at school today, Can you tell me more about it?" (I'm reading a book at the moment about adding open ended questions onto the end of a statement when praising children.. but that's a post for another time).

Aside from what ever worries I have about my daughter's sense of self-worth, it's really the stress of each morning that is becoming a problem. We have tried choosing an outfit together the night before, we have tried laying out 3 possible (weather appropriate) choices and asking her to choose one, we have tried everything short of putting locks on her wardrobe!

And on the days when she manages to choose an outfit and get dressed without any complaining, you can be assured that an hour later she will be found up in her room.. getting changed again! (And again at lunch time, and again before going to the park, and again before dinner.. No wonder Tom feels like he spends his whole life doing laundry!)

Play time

I forgot all about this stage.. it was not so fun at the time (who has time to give their kid three baths a day?) but it is fun to look at photos years later..

The benefits of bed rest..

This morning I woke up at 5am.
Luckily, Tom was already awake too and it was cold so we snuggled up under the doona and waited for the sun to slowly make its way into the room.
I must have drifted off to sleep again because the next thing I remember is Sophie jumping into bed with me, and Tom (who was already showered and ready for work) walking in with tea and eggs on toast for his "two little girls in bed". (Sophie has started to eat every meal with me in bed.. it's going to be such an effort to get her to learn to sit at the table again at the end of this, let alone get our sheets clean!)

The next hour was a rush of activity to get Sophie dressed and off to school. It usually consists of Tom rushing around making lunches and packing Sophie's school bag while saying "Thats great.. now go get mum to brush your hair" and Sophie staying as far away from my bed (and her hairbrush) as she can.

After everyone had made it off to school/ work and the house was quiet again I turned on the computer and checked my email, read some blogs and read the news.. and then I lay down and snuggled under the doona, closed my eyes, made a noise like you do when you get into bed at the end of a really long day and went back to sleep..

It was 11am.


*Photo of Sophie and me in bed a few weeks after she was born (January 2008)

Down to Earth

I ordered this book a few weeks ago after I had seen it popping up all over the place. Tom always gives me a hard time when I buy books like this and says something like "Oh great, you spend money on a book about not spending money" and while I often laugh in agreement (there is something funny about buying things to tell you how to have less things) I don't regret the money I spent on this book for a second.

I am halfway through reading it and I don't want to put it down. It is full of ideas about how to live a more simple life and become more dependant on yourself and your own skills rather than living a life filled with more things. It's not a new concept and certainly one that I know a lot of people strive towards but what I really like about this book is how it makes the kind of life that I dream of living seem so achievable.
It's also not a preachy book, she says very honestly that if you are working full time or have young children then making your own soap, keeping chickens and growing all your own produce may not be a realistic goal.. and that's okay. You do what you can at the moment and work towards those goals in the future.

This book inspires a life where days are spent living simply.. growing veggies, sewing clothes, making delicious nourishing food from scratch, knitting and turning your home into a place that nurtures everyone in it.. whether they live there or have just popped in for a cup of tea.

I really recommend reading it if you can get your hands on a copy. Now all I need is an actual house!
(You may remember that we are staying with Tom's parents while I am on bed rest. Our whole life has been in storage since we moved to Perth last year and my gosh, I can not wait for the day that we get our own place. But.. one thing at a time I guess!)

'Down to Earth' by Rhonda Hetzel available at Booktopia.

Rhonda also has a blog by the same name.

Kinfolk.

Look at what arrived on my doorstep yesterday.

Have you read Kinfolk? I do believe it has just become my favourite magazine. (Do you call it a magazine? It does not really feel right, it feels like a book that you will keep forever. One that you will put on the bookshelf so you can see it everyday and be careful not to bend the corners when you pick it up to read.. or is that just me?)

Did you know it is also available on iPad? (But it really is much nicer holding it in your hands and turning those smooth matt pages while sipping tea. Earl grey I think.)

Mummy. In bed.

Sophie drew me this picture yesterday. It's me at home in bed. Of course!

Someone asked yesterday what 'bed rest' actually means. My Obstetrician likes to call it "Full bed rest with toilet and shower privileges". It means that I have to spend every second in bed but I am allowed to get up to go to the toilet and have one short shower per day. (In hospital I was on bed rest with no toilet or shower privileges.. Oh boy, I don't want to see another bed pan as long as I live!)

When I am in bed I have to be lying down flat. For me, sitting up is just as bad as standing up.
The reason is because they think I have a condition called 'Incompetent Cervix' and they believe that it is the weight of the baby pressing down on your cervix that causes it to open prematurely. So the rationale is that if you have no weight on your cervix (by not standing or sitting up) then the cervix will stay closed until full term. That along with the cervical stitch is what will hopefully keep me pregnant for another 20 weeks or so.

I've been in bed for 34 days now. I have to admit that I am feeling much better than I was a few weeks ago. I guess I have just settled into the routine and accepted the fact that I need someone to help me do everything (bring me every meal etc.) I am enjoying the cool change here in Perth and it is nice to have the endless time to read and knit and do all those things that a busy life does not usually allow for.

I do miss going outside. Terribly. Sophie learnt to ride a bike on the weekend and she was so upset that I could not come to the park and see her ride. My body is getting sore and I feel like I could run a marathon because my legs are so restless. My muscles will deteriorate over the next few months and I have been told that even walking around the block will be a challenge for me once the baby is born (due to lost heart and lung capacity).

But, I have survived the first month and only five more to go. I know that it will be worth every second at the end and I'm trying to remind myself that one day I will be getting up all night with a newborn and  will wish that I could do nothing but lie in bed all day.. may as well enjoy it while I can!

Little old lady

My husband hates confrontation. He is one of those people who like to go around causing as little trouble as possible and in the 5 years we have been together I don't think I have seen him get angry or raise his voice once.

So I was particularly proud of him when he came home from work a few days ago and told me this story..

Tom arrived at the bus stop on his way to work only to find his bus just pulling away. He sat down and pulled out his book when the little old lady next to him started chatting. She was polite and asked him if he could check what time the bank opens "on his computer" and pointed to his phone.

He looked up the bank times and told her, then as he opened his book to continue reading another woman (in her 40's) arrived at the bus stop. 

The little old lady started chatting to the younger woman and for 20 minutes Tom sat there listening to a very disturbing conversation. The dear old lay turned out to be a complete raving racist and Tom could not believe the things that were coming out of her mouth. He felt the urge to pipe up and set her straight on quite a few issues that she clearly had missed the facts on, but he reminded himself that it would not benefit anyones day to cause an argument at the bus stop with a little old lady, even if she was a narrow minded looney.

Finally Tom's bus arrived and as he stood up the old lady said "There you go young man, you have had a lesson" Tom looked at her and said "what?" and she replied "You have had a good lesson" and just as Tom stepped onto the bus he turned and said "What? In Bigotry?"

Apparently as the bus was pulling away she shouted out "I'm not a bigot, you little bastard"

I imagined her walking around for the rest of the day saying (insert your best old granny voice here) "you will not believe what a young man called me at the bus stop this morning.. those young people of today have no respect.."

Indeed.


/Photo of Tom and Sophie in Sydney a few years ago/

Confessions.

I am covered in crumbs. I have eaten every single meal in bed for the last two weeks, sometimes Sophie and Tom join me for a family picnic on the bed. There are crumbs. Lots of crumbs. It's crummy. (Yes, I'm that funny).

I actually count down the days till the next issue of Real Living comes out every month. And then I wait at the newsagent before they open on the day it comes out (I don't really because I have a subscription, but I could!)

I no longer shower every day. I don't remember the last time I shaved my legs or washed my hair. I feel so sorry for my poor husband, but really.. all I do is lie in bed all day. Do I really need to bother? I think not.
(Sophie asked me yesterday if she will get hairy legs when she is a big girl and I replied "yes" and she shuddered. True story.)

It's our wedding anniversary in a few weeks, I bought Tom something that I really want. (A set of these. Do not click on that link if you are my husband).

I told my friends that being on bed rest will be great for our savings because I will no longer do groceries every day, meet friends for coffee, go shopping or leave the house at all and they all laughed at me. I now know why. (Imagine if you could spend all day on Etsy!)

Sometimes I watch Gossip Girl. I'm so glad I got that off my chest.